Help! My Son Is In School

Normally when you send your kid off to school on their first day it gives you tears as your baby is now going to big school. But for me it was anxiety. Knowing he will be in an environment that would flare him up. There is carpet (dust mites), art equipment with ingredients that are bad for Harry’s skin, the cleanliness, the school uniform material and the list goes on.

What was my eczema plan of action?

There are so many things to think about and to take into consideration about what I should do to help, or what can I even do? I needed to have a plan to take to the school and see if they can be accommodating for Harry.

• I came up with an eczema action plan: Eczema Support Australia has great resources to send to the school for training and awareness for atopic dermatitis. I filled out the details for Harry and printed out the resources ready to give to the school.
• I had an interview with the school: Before Harry was starting school I needed to see if it was safe for him to go. I had a meeting with the principal, kindergarten teacher, and the head of lower primary. I told them my concerns and about all of the things that would flare Harry’s skin.

How will they receive this? Would the school even care about one student? Or even change things for one student? Much to my relief they were very good about it. They were ready to implement things straight away.

How did the school respond?

• They hired a cleaner every school day just for his classroom. The cleaning duties are all done to cater for Harry’s requirements such as dusting, vacuuming, and mopping. They bought specific cleaning equipment for it as well.
• The school ripped up the carpet and replaced it with floating floorboards. I still can’t get over the school done this (twice now as they did it in his pre-kindy class room last year). I am SO thankful for this as carpet is one of the biggest areas of dust mites.
• Harry can only wear 100% cotton clothing. Sometimes he needs to wear bandages underneath his clothes. They have allowed Harry to wear whatever he needs instead of the uniform.
• Harry can’t be in contact with certain materials (i.e. paint, glue, etc.), so Harry has his own art supplies that are safe for his skin.
• They removed all stuffed teddies and beanbags, as this is another big dust mite haven. Being in a kindergarten classroom, there was a lot to remove.
• Harry’s teacher is good at monitoring his skin. If the teacher notices Harry scratching more than usual she will let me know. I told her some strategies to help if she notices Harry scratching, such as scratching with knuckles not nails.

Has the school eased my anxiety?

I am truly so blessed to have found such an amazing school to do all of this for my little boy. All of these changes are big and even costly, yet they still did it for him. Even the support I have from the school is amazing. Coming from being so anxious about sending Harry to school, to now not even batting an eyelid about his skin. Knowing that he is in a safe environment and around people who now understand and care for his skin.